Employer Health Plans: A New Arena for ERISA Fee Litigation
Over the past several years, we have seen extensive fee litigation against ERISA retirement plans and their fiduciaries. In Lewandowski v. Johnson & Johnson, on February 5, 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed against Johnson and Johnson, its pension and benefits committee, and the members of that committee. The lawsuit alleges mismanagement of prescription drug benefits through, among other things, overpayment to the pharmacy benefits manager for certain drugs available elsewhere at lower prices.
This lawsuit highlights the new obligations and exposure for health plan fiduciaries introduced by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”), reinforcing that the time has come for plan sponsors to re-evaluate and solidify their governance framework for health and welfare plans. This presentation will focus on the new obligations imposed on health plans by the CAA and describe in greater detail the claims in this new lawsuit. We will also provide a checklist of top action items for health plan fiduciaries to consider in 2024.
Continuing Legal Education:
After the program, Quarles will apply for 1.0 hours of general continuing legal education credit in U.S. jurisdictions where applicable. Quarles certifies that this activity has been approved for California Participatory MCLE credits by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.0 general credits. Quarles is a State Bar of California MCLE approved provider.
Participants seeking CLE credit must be logged in, participating from their own device, and must complete the electronic CLE form provided in the course dashboard materials. Please be sure to include the attendance verification code that will be announced during the presentation, regardless of which jurisdiction you are licensed in. Quarles will only provide CLE credit to those who return the form with the proper code.
Anticipated Continuing Legal Education Processing Time:
Depending on the jurisdiction, the processing time for course approval is estimated to take between 2-16 weeks.
Questions?
For more information and to register, please contact Lauren Klika, events@quarles.com.